Tearful Serena Williams begins farewell tour as she loses at the Canadian Open

By Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1004 GMT (1804 HKT) August 11, 2022

Serena Williams lost her first match since announcing her imminent retirement from tennis.

(CNN)Carrying a bouquet of flowers and wiping a tear from her eye, Serena Williams waved to the raucous crowd on Wednesday a day after her announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.

The 23-time grand slam champion was defeated 6-2 6-4 by Belinda Bencic in the second round of theCanadian Open in Toronto — her first match since penning an article in Vogue explaining that «the countdown has begun» and that she will «evolve away from tennis.»«As I said in the article, I'm terrible at goodbyes. But goodbye, Toronto,» she said in an on-court interview after the match.Serena Williams announces she will 'evolve away from tennis' after upcoming US OpenIt was likely Williams' last appearance at the Canadian Open, having won the tournament twice during her incredible career. Together with her older sister Venus, she helped transform the sport, regularly winning grand slams in both singles and doubles tennis.Read MoreThe 40-year-old has accumulated 73 career singles titles, 23 doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles which includes 39 grand slam titles — 23 singles titles, 14 doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles.«It was a lot of emotions, obviously,» Williams told the crowd, speaking about the match. «I love playing here, I've always loved playing here. I wish I could have played better but Belinda played so well today. It's been an interesting 24 hours. Williams won her first singles match in 430 days with victory in the first round at the Canadian Open.»Anyways, this is what it is. I was really happy to be out here today and play in front of you guys, thanks for